Point-Counterpoint: Should Pennsylvania dump Common Core standards?

Common Core education standards — meant to align America's school districts around a set of subject-specific principles — are coming under increasing fire. Harrisburg correspondent Steve Esack asked a fan and a foe for their views as Pennsylvania mulls whether to adopt the standards.

YES

Carolyn Dumaresq

Deputy secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Education

Q: What is Common Core?

A: The essential concepts, knowledge and skills necessary for students to be successful following high school graduation. Examples include understanding multiplication tables or being able to properly use an adjective in writing a declarative sentence. The Pennsylvania Common Core is not a curriculum, nor is it federally mandated.

Q: Describe the review process the Pennsylvania Department of Education used to come up with standards.

A: The state Board of Education and the Department of Education convened a committee of Pennsylvania schoolteachers and administrators as well as higher education professionals to review the Pennsylvania Academic Standards alongside the Common Core Standards. The committee concluded that, to ensure a high-quality education for Pennsylvania's students, the state board should adopt the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards, which are a combination of both the Pennsylvania Academic Standards and the Common Core.

Q:Will the parent of a third-grader or seventh-grader see a difference compared to his own experience?

A: Parents will notice that their child is gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding in the subject areas of math and English-language arts. Students will show the ability to engage in critical thinking and how to apply their learning to real-life situations.

Q: Will Pennsylvania Common Core make school harder for kids? If so, how? If not, why not?

A: It's not that it makes school harder, but it will require students to challenge themselves to have a deeper understanding of math and English-language arts.

Q: Does the national or state Common Core model mandate a federally approved reading list or lesson plans in any subject, as opponents allege?

A: No. As has always been the case in Pennsylvania, curriculum, classroom resources, instructional strategies, textbooks and reading materials are under the control of each local school district's elected school board, administrators and teachers.

Q: Is there a cost associated with Common Core for the state and local districts?

A: There are no new costs to the state or school districts. Each year, Pennsylvania's public schools spend more than $500 million on professional development. Additional funds are not necessary. What is necessary is for districts to ensure that their professional development programs are aligned to the Pennsylvania Common Core standards. To assist public schools in aligning to the Pennsylvania Common Core, the state Department of Education has created a comprehensive, Web-based resource, the Standards Aligned System, for Pennsylvania's educators to access integrated classroom tools to enhance their teaching effectiveness. SAS includes voluntary model curriculum, learning progressions, lesson plans as well as a searchable database of Pennsylvania's Common Core and a classroom diagnostic tool to assess students in the core content areas.

Q: Does Gov. Tom Corbett's decision to delay the standards affect PDE's plans or perceptions of Common Core?

A: It wouldn't be a fair characterization to say that the governor delayed the new academic standards. What the governor has requested is for the State Board of Education to consider modifications to the proposed standards to address the concerns raised by the General Assembly and the public. For the past two years, through the standard public comment and review process, Pennsylvania has moved away from the national Common Core and focused on implementing the Pennsylvania Common Core standards, which combine both the Pennsylvania Academic Standards and the Common Core.

Q: What happens if the Legislature does not approve the Pennsylvania Common Core as part of so-called Chapter 4 regulations in the state School Code?